


Connections - Expansion Pack

by IWP_chan



Series: Away from Here, Nasty Father [22]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Actual Detective Akechi, Actual Phantom Thief Akira, Gen, M/M, PT Leader!Akechi, a.k.a akechi fantasizes about some joker/akira/ren action, enjoy Connections shenanigans, sin in chapter 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-04-08 02:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 11,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14094585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWP_chan/pseuds/IWP_chan
Summary: A collection of events that happened during Connections but weren’t covered in the fic due to POV restrictions.





	1. Chapter 1

Summary: A collection of events that happened during Connections but weren’t covered in the fic due to POV restrictions.

_Note: The parts will be written at random according to my mood, so they’re not posted in a chronological order. There is no specific posting schedule for this farther than an update every Sunday if there is a chapter written. If not, well… guess we’ll have to wait for it…_

_This chapter is set in December, after the PT steal Shido’s heart but before his confession._

_Have some shuake ^^_

**Warnings: Kissing (Yeah I Did It Again), Author’s Kinks Are Showing, Shameless Self-Indulgence, Matching Under-Eyes Bags.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

When Goro entered Leblanc, it was nearing closing time.

“The kid’s upstairs,” Sojiro informed him as he moved around the counter.

Goro smiled gratefully at him, “Thank you, Boss.”

“Tell him I’m closing up now.”

“Okay.”

Boss ushered him upstairs and he climbed to the attic.

“Boss is closing up, Akira.”

Goro looked up at him from his phone, which he then put aside and smiled warmly at him, “Hey.”

Goro’s heart thudded in his chest, heat rising to his cheeks, “Hey, yourself.” Goro walked over to the bed Akira was sitting on and leaned down, hands carding through Akira’s hair as he pressed a gentle kiss to Akira’s lips.

Akira tugged him to sit in front of him, and Goro complied, breaking the kiss momentarily to make himself comfortable.

Akira pulled him in for another kiss, and another, and another.

Goro chuckled and pulled back before the kiss escalated into something more heated.

“I don’t think it’s the appropriate time for that,” Goro murmured, his hands going from Akira’s hair to rest on the back of his neck and the side of his face.

Akira half-smiled, his intense stare sending Goro’s blood boiling in his veins, hot with desire, but Goro persisted.

The two sat in silence backing in each other’s presence, eyes tracung lines over faces, necks and shoulders.

“Hey, Akira,” Goro whispered, his hands reaching into the sides of Akira’s neck, right under his jaw, “May I?”

Akira merely tilted his head up in response, baring his neck.

Goro’s fingers carefully tugged at the edges of the mask that seamlessly blended into Akira’s neck. He pulled it until he peeled it off, showing Akira’s actual face, stress lining it and lack of sleep leaving dark bags under his eyes.

In response, Akira reached for the pack of wipes he kept close and tugged Goro’s face closer to him before he started removing the concealer Goro wore.

“We match,” Goro scoffed, fingers tracing the edges of the bags under Akira’s eyes.

“That, we do.” Akira grabbed hold of one of Goro’s hands, entwining their fingers together as they inched closer to each other.

Clumsily, they fumbled with Akira’ bed, clearing it off before they let themselves succumb to the exhaustion and to curl up in bed, pressed close to each other, not letting go until they had to wake up.

.

End


	2. Chapter 2

_Note: Joker-as-Ann waltzes into Madarame’s shack, see what he does next._

**Warnings: Joker Being Joker, Drama™, Joker’s Trusty Grapple Gun™, Perfect Disguises.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

Alarm ready to be tripped: check.

Door to the Sayuri storage room unlocked: check.

The Sayuri and its fakes positioned to be easily seen: check.

Disguise: check.

Sending a quick message to Ann, Joker was ready to go in.

He stretched a hand forward and rang the doorbell. It didn’t take long before Kitagawa opened the door.

His eyes sparkled when they landed on ‘Ann’, “Ah! Takamaki-san! I’m glad you agreed to come.”

Joker smiled slightly, the correct combination of open and awkward that Ann would radiate in such a situation, and fiddled with one f his pigtails, “Ah, yes, Kitagawa-kun, I… uh…”

“Please, come in.” Kitagawa stood to the side and gestured for him to enter, and Joker did so.

“This way,” Kitagawa closed the door after them and walked farther into Madarame’s shack, heading to his room, and Joker followed him.

After the two reached the room, Kitagawa turned expectantly towards Joker, and Joker fidgeted slightly before putting his bag down near the door, ready for a quick escape, and then reaching to the uniform’s blazer to slip it off.

After he slipped it off his shoulders, he tugged it close to his chest and shyly looked around the room, “Uh, are you sure there isn’t any room with a lock where you could work?” As he asked this, he subtly stepped backwards to the doorway.

“Yes, Takamaki-san. Takamaki-san?” Joker could hear the frown in Kitagawa’s voice as he walked out of the room.

Good, Kitagawa deserved to have some of his feathers ruffled.

“Just because I agreed to model nude for you doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with doing it somewhere anyone could walk in.” Joker said, annoyed, as his footsteps took him in the direction of the room with the lock, “That’s why I need a room with a lock.”

Before he reached his target, his hand slipped into his pocket and took a hold of his phone, taking it out of his pocket just long enough to trip the alarm before returning it.

“Look! I found one! It even has the key inside of it!”

“It has the key?!” Joker heard Kitagawa ask in bewilderment, “That’s impossible!”

Joker fiddled with the key for show before opening the lock fully, “Hey, it’s already open!” He opened the door and stepped in, hand reaching blindly for the light switch.

“There is no way the door was left open, this is sensei’s storage ro-“ Kitagawa stopped mid-word, clearly shocked as he saw the contents of the room after the lights were turned on.

Joker gasped in shock, “Oh my god! Isn’t that-?!”

“The Sayuri…” Kitagawa whispered and stepped forward dazedly, “This is the Sayuri, there is no doubt, but… what is it doing here?”

“What are you two doing here?” Madarame’s voice reached them from the doorway, and the two turned to face him.

_Right on time_ , Joker smirked inwardly.

“Sensei, what is the meaning of this?”

Joker kept quiet through Madarame’s sob story about being in debt and selling the Sayuri fakes for money. After Madarame finished, it was his cue to take his leave. And so, Joker averted his eyes to the floor, and started his exit plan.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-! I’m sorry… I…” His voice trembled, “Maybe I should just go…” With that said, he ducked his head and maneuvered himself around the other occupants until he was clear of the room before he bolted, only making a pit stop to grab his bag.

“Wait! Takamaki-san!” Kitagawa called out from behind him as he chased after him.

Joker ran into the roads and slipped in to the crowds, easily dodging other passersby, and leading Kitagawa into a wild goose chase before he ducked into an alley and took out his grapple gun. Aiming it upwards, he shot the grapple to grab onto the fence surrounding the roof of the building to his side. The grapple took a hold of the fence, and Joker used it to propel himself up and onto the roof.

He landed with ease and stood up to adjust his appearance before taking his phone out and checking the signal of Ann’s phone.

It was time for the two to regroup.

.

End


	3. Chapter 3

_Note: who wants some Akechi fantasizing about a Joker/Akira/Ren threesome?_

**Warnings: HIGHLY SUGGESTIVE FANTASIZING PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK, I Can’t Believe I Freaking Did This, This Killed Me A Hundred Times Over While I Wrote It, Akechi youre so full of sin. docx.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own p5.

.

_(The sight pierces Goro straight through his core._

_Even though he figures there is nothing straight about it.)_

It’s not difficult to admit that Joker is very attractive, or that he is the type a person would go ‘hot damn’ over. He’s been very instrumental in Goro’s sexual awakening, not that Goro would ever tell him that, or that he’d seen more of Joker in his dreams than he’d seen of him in heists. It’s embarrassing, really.

Ren, the form Joker takes when they seamlessly slip themself into the Phantom Thieves, doesn’t help matters at all.

It’s there in the wicked curve of their lips, the glint in their eyes, the way they easily attach themself to Goro.

Joker is enticing darkness, edges sharp like a knife (a knife that Goro is all too willing to cut himself on), a ticking time bomb that will eventually explode and turn him into a mess on the floor and walls; Ren is the underlying heat of temptation, the irresistible beckoning, the whispers that coax him into his doom.

And then there is Akira; the soft comfort, the unobtrusive charm, the quiet aura. The peaceful presence Goro craves burying himself in and _staying there_.

As much as Goro would like to deny it, he’s not surprised when his thoughts drop into the gutter sometimes when he thinks about the three.

The problem is, it’s not difficult, it’s easy to slip into the fantasies anywhere, anytime, regardless of whoever exists in his vicinity.

Even if the person sitting in the same room as him is the focal point of all of his fantasies- _especially so._

It’s easy to see Akira in his glasses and Shujin uniform sitting casually on a chair and messing around on his phone, and imagine him tugged back to be pressed against Ren’s chest as their nimble fingers easily pop open the buttons to Akira’s blazer while their wickedly grinning lips nip at Akira’s neck.

It’s easy to imagine Joker joining, walking up to Akira and letting his hands slip under Akira’s turtle-neck to push it upwards, letting his hands map out the contours of Akira’s torso, and tilting his face down to meet Akira’s lips with his own in a filthy, rough kiss that leaves Akira’s lips bruised and swollen.

It’s easy to imagine Akira’s shuddering breaths and quiet moans, the needy sounds he makes every time Joker’s lips part from his, the way he bares his neck for Ren to give them easier access and let them mark Akira’s neck however they please, and how he trembles under the combined attention.

It’s disgustingly easy for Goro to imagine himself entering the fray, imagine himself slipping his hands into Akira’s hair, imagine himself kissing Akira with fervor, imagine Akira falling apart under his hands, imagine the trembling whispers of his name falling from Akira’s lips, punctuated by gasps as he tells Goro _exactly_ what he wants Goro to do to him.

_“Gor- ah!”_

“Senpai?”

Akechi snaps out of his fantasy, his face sporting a spectacular blush, “Ah! Did you want something?”

Akira gives him a concerned look, “You looked like you were having trouble breathing and your face was very red, I was worried.”

Goro inhales and exhales, “It’s nothing! Don’t worry about it! Ah, look at the time, I need to go!” Goro stands up and all but runs away from Akira, with his tail between his legs.

Curse his treacherous mind.

.

End


	4. Chapter 4

_Note: what should I write next for this thing? I ask myself before I proceed to write some soft shuakes._

**Warnings: Busting Akechi’s Ass Out (Not Literally).**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

Sae stepped out of the interrogation room in a near daze, but she refused to let it show. As much as it pained her to do it, she had to leave her brother behind in the room, bruised and in a haze of drugs. But before she could hope to break him out, she needed to secure the way out for him first.

Her brain started running through all the details she’d need to help her brother escape without any further damage to him as she walked through the corrider. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. From what she could discern, there were two people heading in her direction; so she slowed down and waited for them to reach her.

It was Edogawa and… Goro? Her eyes widened when she saw Goro walking next to Edogawa, looking like he wasn’t hurt in the least.

Was this actually Goro? Or was she being tricked? Or _had_ she been tricked?

Her inner Goro berated her for not checking for a mask on the Thieves’ leader before she started the interrogation, but her rational mind countered the self doubt by pointing out that no mask would have lasted under the beatings and no mask was capable of showing bruises without having access to supplies, which wasn’t possible, given the circumstances, _unless-!_

“Sae-san.” Sae was snapped out of her thoughts once more by Goro’s voice calling out to her.

The voice was the exact same as Goro’s and doubt began to gnaw at her, was she tricked by an imposter in the room?

“Goro-kun, detective Edogawa, what are you two doing here?”

Edogawa gave her a gentle smile, “We’re part of the taskforce assigned to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, we’re here to give their leader our own interrogation as well. We have an expert here.” Edogawa gestured to Goro, who chuckled softly.

“You flatter me too much.” Goro smiled self-consciously before his expression turned serious, “Never mind that, we don’t have time to waste, we should get going.”

“Of course.” Edogawa nodded and walked on ahead, passing by Sae, “I hope we can talk later, Niijima-san.”

When Goro walked past Sae, he stopped and turned to face her, “Ah, before I forget.” He leaned in close to her with a whisper, “Don’t worry.” Sae almost jolted when the voice she heard come from Goro’s mouth was her own, “I’ll make sure things go smoothly from this point on.” ‘Goro’ gave her half a familiar shark-like grin, before his expression smoothed over again.

“We’ll see each other again soon, I hope,” He said, his voice returning to a perfect imitation of Goro’s.

Sae watched his back as he headed towards the interrogation room and felt herself relax; she personally entrusted Goro’s wellbeing to very few people: herself, Makoto, Edogawa.

Joker.

If anyone could help Goro out of the situation he ended up in, it would be Joker.

.

Goro raised his head when he heard the door to the interrogation room open, he blinked when he saw detective Edogawa at the entrance.

Edogawa stopped to the side to let another figure enter, and Goro blinked again when he saw his own face stare back at him.

He was not surprised to see Joker.

“I’ll keep watch outside,” Edogawa murmured and Joker jerked his head in a sharp nod.

Joker mechanically walked to the table and put his suitcase, a perfect replica of Goro’s (if it wasn’t actually Goro’s suitcase), on its surface and angled it away from the door. By the time Joker reached Goro, Edogawa had exited the room and closed the door behind him.

Joker reached out with his hands to gently cup Goro’s face, and Goro leaned into the touch, uncaring about the high probability that Joker was wearing two layers of gloves.

“They’ve done a number on you.” Goro heard him whisper, and his breath shuddered in his chest, his heart lodging in his throat, for the voice was neither Joker nor Ren, but Akira’s soft tone.

“Listen to me, love, I need to you to stay strong for me for a bit more, until I get you out of here safely, alright?? Can you be a dear and do that for me?”

Goro nodded frantically; as crazy as it probably sounded, he was ready to do anything for Akira.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Akira pressed a fleeting kiss to Goro’s forehead before he let go of Goro’s face, and Goro almost keened at the loss of contact.

“Shh, shh.” Akira carefully carded a hand through Goro’s hair, “I’m still here, honey. I just need to open the suitcase.”

Goro nodded and Akira let go of him to open the suitcase, showing an extensive make up kit and a change of clothes that looked the same as the ones Akira was wearing.

Akira returned back to Goro with a small first aid kit he’d no doubt picked from the suitcase.

“You’re doing amazing, darling, keep it up.” Akira’s gentle hands on his face as he worked and his whispered words of praise coaxed Goro bit by bit to regain his awareness.

“Hey there.” Akira smiled at him when he finished, “You look just like I do now, that’s good.”

“What next?” Goro questioned as he stood from his seat with some difficulty and started to test his range of movements with his limping leg.

“Edogawa will take you back to your house, where you can rest and lay low, I’ll catch up with you after I bring a better first aid kit and tie up loose ends at the station. And no, there is no room for any complaints about the plan, we’re on a tight schedule as is.”

Goro frowned at that, but kept his mouth shut.

“Here.” Akira closed the suitcase and gave it to Goro, who begrudgingly accepted it.

“I’d say it’s show time but it has been show time for a while now.”

.

End


	5. Chapter 5

_Note: so who wants to know for sure whose name was on the death certificate?_

**Warnings: Edogawa POV, I Gave Him The First Name ‘Gin’ And I Feel Mean.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

Edogawa Gin was familiar with the taste of regret.

He had committed plenty of mistakes in his life, but out of all of them, the one he’d consider an Unforgivable was failing both Yume and Goro.

And _how_.

Gin sighed as he returned to his office at the police station after he dropped Goro off. It was night but his work was far from over.

“I see you’re back.” A monotonous voice pulled his attention to where Joker was casually perched on one of the chairs, disguised as a forgettable, brown haired, dark eyed officer.

“Yes,” Gin replied cautiously; Joker wasn’t a person to be messed with and it made Gin wary while working with him.

“The report?” Joker prompted.

“Delivered. Verbally. Now I just need to go get a death certificate to give him to make sure he doesn’t sus-“

“No need.” Joker interrupted as he stood up, producing a piece of paper out of nowhere and placing it on Gin’s desk, “Already taken care of. Anything else?”

Gin mutely shook his head.

“Good,” Joker said as he headed towards the door, “Don’t forget the plan.”

“Of course.”

After Joker left, Gin went to check the document the devious thief had left behind. His eyes widened as he read the name of the deceased stated on the papers.

“This is-!”

.

Shido Masayoshi pressed his fingers together as he observed the death certificate placed on his desk.

The surname was familiar enough that he had no problem picturing one of the family members picking up phantom thievery, considering the family’s connection to them.

But in the end it didn’t matter, this Amamiya Ren was just another stepping stone, a nuisance that had to be taken out before bothering him anymore. And with her death, the rest of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts would be easy picking.

Shido’s eyes glinted; the election’s results were within a month’s time and his path was clear in front of him.

.

End

Okay, how many of you called it?


	6. Chapter 6

_Note: the pseudo-shuake dates to get Kaneshiro’s name ^^_

**Warning: Akechi Be Smitten Like Always, Softness, Bribing Akechi With Food, FLUFF.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

Ren turned away from Tantei-san’s group of friends and walked in the direction of the trains leading to Yongen-Jaya.

“Tantei-san,” They murmured.

“ _What is it?_ ” Goro’s voice came in through the earpiece Ren wore, carefully hidden by the curls of their hair.

“You heard what your friends and sister were saying.”

“ _Yes. And?_ ”

“I know you know the name. Or at least can get the name.”

“ _I’m not giving it to you even if I knew_.”

“And if I wanted to give it to your friends?”

Goro sighed, “ _What are you planning?_ ”

“You’re free, aren’t you, Tantei-san?”

“ _Free?_ ” Goro sounded miffed, “ _No, I’m not. I’m a slave to work, forever and ever_.”

Ren huffed in amusement; it was just so hilarious that Goro thought he could hide away his schedule from them. Ren knew Goro’s schedule better than Goro ever did.

(Granted, it was because Goro couldn’t account for the unplanned distractions that Ren- or Joker, or any of their disguises, really- caused, but those were pesky details.)

“Right. Sure.” Ren’s tone indicated how little they believed Goro, “Not busy at all.”

Goro sighed again, “ _Let me repeat myself: what. Are. You. Planning?_ ”

“I’m not planning anything.”

“ _Lies._ ”

“Do you have so little faith in me, Tantei-san?”

“ _I just know you enough to know when you’re blatantly lying_.”

Ren chuckled, “If that’s the case. Then I don’t need to hide it from you, hm?”

“ _Just… get on with it_.”

“Very well then.” Ren smirked, “Prepare yourself, Tantei-san, because you have a date with a cute barista.”

“ _What? Since when? And what barista?_ ”

“Since now. And the name Kurusu Akira doesn’t ring any bells?”

Goro choked and coughed before he attempted to clear his throat.

“Bingo.” Ren’s eyes glinted, “Three PM. Your destination is café Leblanc in Yongen-Jaya.”

.

Three o’clock on the dot found Goro nervously opening the door to café Leblanc.

“Welcome.” A familiar voice greeted him from inside, “Oh, senpai.”

Goro ducked inside the café, and was bombarded with the sight of Kurusu in an apron.

( _Breathe, Akechi_ , he nearly screamed at himself, _breathe_.)

“It’s great to see you here, senpai.” Kurusu ducked his head shyly, causing his dark curls to spill over his glasses, and Goro almost died on the spot. Kurusu raised his head to give Goro a hopeful stare from behind his glasses, “Would you like some coffee? My treat.” Kurusu’s fingers reached up to fiddle with a strand of his bangs, and Goro had to remind himself to breathe. Again.

“Yes, please.”

.

“Hey, senpai, I heard you like pancakes,” Kurusu said, causing Goro to snap his head up and stare at him in shock; where did he hear that?!

“I found a place that sells really good pancakes and crepes while out with Ann and immediately thought of you.”

Goro inhaled sharply and resisted the urge to clutch his chest.

Perfect people existed? Where had Kurusu been all Goro’s life?

.

Goro usually kept a tight lid on his innermost thoughts and secrets, but even he had his moments where his brain-to-mouth filter decided to take a break and screw Goro over.

And that was how, a day later, he just blurted out _“Where have you been all my life?”_ to Kurusu while he was trying out the curry Kurusu had made.

Kurusu stiffened, and Goro immediately began berating himself for his stupidity. God, he wished it didn’t cause Kurusu to completely pull away from him.

Kurusu exhaled and turned to look at Goro with a different sort of quiet air about him, it even seemed slightly melancholic, which caused Goro to sober up and sit at attention, his eyes roving down Kurusu’s body to scrutinize every bit of his body language.

“Hiding.” Goro heard Kurusu whisper, and had to turn the word around in his head, poking it to figure out the hidden meaning behind it. “But not anymore, I think. Well. Hopefully, not anymore.” Kurusu shrugged with one shoulder, “At least not around you, senpai.”

Goro didn’t know what to say in response, but he felt his own mouth stretch into a tiny smile while blood flooded his cheeks, “I’m… honored. Thank you. For trusting me like this.”

Kurusu huffed a laugh, “It already feels like I’ve known you for a while. This seems like the logical next step. How’s the curry?”

.

Akira sat down on his bed in Leblanc’s attic and furiously raked his hands through his hair, trying to understand what came over him to run his mouth like that in front of Tantei-san.

He was interrupted by the chime of a phone, and he sighed as he went to look for the phone in question. He almost froze in place when he noticed that it was the _Ren_ phone before he swiftly grabbed it and unlocked it.

There was a message from Tantei-san.

_[The person you asked about is called Kaneshiro Junya. Just tell them the name, they’ll know what to do after.]_

Akira raised an eyebrow; he didn’t expect Tantei-san to fold so quickly, what brought it on?

.

End


	7. Chapter 7

_Note: hey how about some fun on Akira’s first day at Shujin? :D_

**Warnings: Akira Be Having Not-So-Much Fun (I’m Sorry Akira I Swear I Love You), Akechi Be Too Distracted With Work.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

Akira ducked his head as he sat down at his desk in his new classroom, his classmates’ whispers and murmurs about him easily heard by him.

His record was leaked. Somehow.

He pressed his lips into a thin line and did his best to keep a frown off his face; someone must have leaked it, and it was unacceptable. He needed to look for the possible cause.

He thought he could keep a low profile during his stay in Tokyo for the year, but things weren’t in his favor, not with the _probation_ (he almost ground his teeth together in frustration. A probation. _Him, Joker, on something as ridiculous as probation_. Hah.), not since the _assault_.

_Fucking Shido_.

“Oi, Kurusu!” Akira snapped out of his thoughts to dodge the chalk thrown his way. “Pay attention!” The teacher called out and proceeded to ask him a question about the class’ material.

Akira inwardly snorted as he answered the question correctly, causing chatter to break out through the class.

As if he was going to let some flimsy probation keep him tied down.

.

A thing about Shujin Academy: it was the only school that would accept him after he was kicked out of his previous school due to his assault record.

Another thing: it was also the same school Tantei-san attended.

Which.

Akira inhaled as he made sure he was carefully hidden behind the corner as he observed Tantei-san make his way hastily to the entrance of the school as classes ended, his eyes glued to his phone.

The sight was very familiar to Akira who’d seen Tantei-san get immersed in a case before, and he wondered what matter was distracting the detective this time.

He considered following after him but then he hesitated.

Throughout the last year, he’d fantasized about how he could approach Tantei-san using his real identity. He’d fantasized about casually flitting about the edges of his awareness before making his way into Akechi Goro’s life on his own terms when he was comfortable enough with it.

But then the assault charge happened and Akira found himself thrust into Tantei-san’s vicinity with no way to avoid direct confrontation and exposure other than dodging the hell out of Tantei-san during school hours due to his leaked records (because Tantei-san loved sticking his nose into other people’s business, there was no way he wouldn’t investigate Akira the moment he heard about the probation).

Akira shook his head, why was he hesitating? Where did all of his guts disappear to? He could tail the detective for a bit without making it appear as if he was following him! He’d done it before and now was no different.

Inhaling deeply, Akira slipped out of his hiding spot to casually follow Tantei-san out of the school.

Tantei-san was already ways ahead of him, but given his distraction with his phone and his slow pace, Akira could catch up and keep a decent distance between them without attracting anyone’s attention to him.

Up ahead, Tantei-san continued walking ahead without paying much attention to his surrounding to the point that he shoulder-checked a blond student as he turned to what was probably a path off to the side.

The blond student let out an indignant ‘hey!’ and followed after the detective. Akira huffed under his breath and sped up.

When he reached the alleyway that the detective and student must have ducked into, he found it empty.

“Wha…” His eyes widened as carefully scrutinized the alleyway; there was no hiding spot, or any means to climb up to the roofs of the buildings on each side.

Where had the two disappeared to?

.

End


	8. Chapter 8

_Note: **KainVixenheim** on ao3 commentedon the last chapter: “Hah_

_I’d love to read more of Akira trying to follow Akechi places and losing him cos of the meta verse_

_It’s just kinda funny”_

_And I was like “Okay, now you're single-handedly responsible for an idea for a future update of Connections - EP_

_like... four times Akira/Ren missed Akechi because of the Metaverse and the one time they didn't :D”_

_and this happened, picks right at the end of the last chapter._

**Warnings: Akira/Ren Has Everyone Tagged With Trackers (EVERYONE), 4+1 Things.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

**#1|**

**.**

Akira walked away from the alley, thoughts going a mile a minute.

How did Tantei-san disappear so quickly along with the other student? It didn’t make any sense; there was no place to hide or any way to climb up the sides of the buildings.

His grip tightened on his bag as he walked forward faster, his brain already drafting plans to keep an eye on the detective.

.

**#2|**

**.**

Ren casually slipped into a different disguise after they parted ways with Ann and slipped into the crowd while keeping an eye on the tracker on their phone, telling them where Ann was.

They had done their part, but they weren’t going to leave the area before making sure that Kitagawa had returned.

As she neared Ann’s location, the indicator blinked once before winking out of existence.

Ren blinked in shock before furiously checking the tracking program on their phone; now was not the time for it to malfunction!

Their hands stilled when they realized that the tracker was working just fine, it was simply that Ann’s signal just vanished.

Their grip tightened as they recalled a similar incident of people miraculously disappearing mere moments before they caught up to them: Tantei-san and Ryuji.

Was this incident connected?

They hummed thoughtfully as they browsed through their marked trackers; as they expected, neither Tantei-san’s tracker nor Ryuji’s appeared anywhere on the map.

Narrowing their eyes at nothing, they resolved to figure out what the mystery behind the situation was.

.

**#3|**

**.**

_“You know what? Just because I can’t join you, doesn’t mean I can’t help you. I’ve been keeping an eye on you for a time now, as you well know, and I have gathered some information. If you ever need supplies, you have my number.”_

That was what Ren had said to Tantei-san before they left him with his merry group of potential phantom thieves (which, _hah_ , what a thought to have), but it wasn’t all what Ren had in mind.

The moment Ren was out of sight of the group, they pulled out their phone and checked the group’s trackers.

Minutes later, the same thing that happened with Ann’s tracker that time, happened with the group.

The trackers simply just vanished.

Peeking back at the place they left the group in, Ren saw that it was empty.

Once was happenstance, twice was circumstance.

Three times was enemy action.

.

**#4|**

**.**

The Thieves (and this time, Ren was absolutely sure Tantei-san and his friends were the Phantom Thieves of Hearts) chattered from where they stood in front of Futaba’s room, Ren couldn’t hear what they were saying exactly, but they could still hear their noise.

Paranoid, they took out their phone and started observing the trackers while keeping an ear out for the noise made by the Thieves.

Then, the trackers vanished from the Phone’s screen, and not a moment later, the voices faded away.

Pocketing their phone, Ren walked to where they left the Thieves. They weren’t surprised to find out that no one stood in front of the door anymore.

Whatever it was that the Thieves were involved in to be able to change hearts, it was definitely connected to how the Thieves kept disappearing into thin air.

.

**||#5||**

**.**

Okumura Foods HQ.

The Thieves were headed for Okumura Foods HQ.

Was it for Morgana or was it to change Okumura’s heart?

Ren kept a frown off their face as they followed the Thieves while in disguise; they’ve had their share of being kept in the dark and they wouldn’t stand for it anymore. They were going to find out where the Thieves kept disappearing to.

They made sure they stayed hidden behind the wall the Thieves were on the other side of, while appearing as if casually browsing their phone.

And then it hit them.

The world around them blurred and shifted, and they almost swayed dizzily in place, causing them to brace themself against the wall.

When the blurriness stopped and the world returned to sharp focus, Ren’s eyes widened and they had to bite their tongue to keep any sounds from escaping them.

How the heck…

They hastily checked their phone but it wasn’t working.

Was this…?

Was this the place?

But then. How the hell did the place change into some sort of space station?!

.

End


	9. Chapter 9

_Note: finally y’all get to see Akira awakening to Arsene._

_Set on the same day the PT stake out Mementos to catch Morgana and Haru- Akira finds himself in the Metaverse on his own, awakens a Persona, gets important shit done, and then meets up with the PT later. This bitch was very busy on that day. Kudos for not dropping dead (this is the point when the bags under his eyes start to develop, I’m certain.)_

**Warnings: How Does One Write A Straightforward Palace Infiltration?, Glass, So Much Glass.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

Akira sighed after he made his way back to the attic above Leblanc. The spontaneous, accidental trip he made to that space station was… strange to say the least.

He took out his phone and stared at the new app that installed itself on it after Ren had found themself in the space station.

Whatever it was, it was definitely related to what the Phantom Thieves of Hearts did, which meant Akira had to dig into it.

MetaNav.

He frowned and opened the app; it certainly looked like a navigator app, but trying to search for any destination on it proved futile.

Why was it called Meta Nav? Did it refer to a metaspace of some sort?

He hummed as he tried to remember any details the Thieves had let slip in regards to their work. There was something about names, wasn’t it?

Did he have to look up names of people instead of places? Did the app work as a navigator to people’s hearts? He snorted at the thought, but all the same, he shrugged and tried out the first name he could think to input.

“Kurusu Akira.”

“Candidate found,” The app chimed, and Akira tapped his phone against his chin, he needed more coordinates?

But what?

Back with Madarame, the Thieves seemed to fixate about getting a room inside his shack open as if it was an obstacle in their work. Back with Kaneshiro, they needed to get into contact with him, presumably for something connected with his work. Back with Futaba, they went up to her room. And now with Okumura, they were lurking around Okumura Foods’ HQ.

Was it the place of residence? Or work?

“Café Leblanc.”

“Candidate not found.”

“Shujin Academy.”

“Candidate not found.”

He frowned as he dropped his hands to the side; he needed to think of a place connected to him to work.

In the following minutes, he’d tried out every single address he could think of back in his hometown and any place connected to his career as Joker, but the constant ring of _‘candidate not found’_ persisted.

He sighed as he flopped down on his bed and buried his head in his arms, he could do it the next day, while the Thieves were busy looking for Morgana, because his search results were depressing for the day.

If he couldn’t figure it out, he _could_ ask Futaba, but for the moment, it would remain as his last resort.

.

Akira took the chance to slip away after school the next day to slip back into one of Yongen’s alleyways where he was sure no one would come across him.

Opening the Nav, he started trying out other addresses in Tokyo, from the Diet Building to the ramen shop he frequented, but still none of them garnered a reaction other than the usual.

He scowled down at his phone, “Just what in the whole of goddamn Tokyo will make this absolute garba-“

“Candidate found.”

“What?” Akira stared at his phone incredulously, “Tokyo? Fucking _Tokyo_? Is this some sort of farce or _what_?”

“Candidate found. Beginning navigation.”

.

Akira stared around him incredulously; wherever he looked, Tokyo looked like a city made of cracked glass- everything existed in perfect mimicry of its real world counterpart, except the whole city was made of glass, with big cracks going through it and some parts completely shattered, its shards floating in the air around it, but leaving behind what looked like its exact appearance in reality.

He made his way to Leblanc, to see that the glass had completely peeled away from it. He frowned as he wondered what it meant, though he had a feeling that wherever he was right now wasn’t a place that he should take lightly.

Another look around the area showed him that the places with the most shattered glass were the ones he usually frequented, like the baths and Sojiro’s house.

He hummed thoughtfully as he considered the whole city from what he could see in the distance. Maybe he could check other locations?

His feet took him to the station, and he made his way down to the train he usually took from Yongen on his way to school. The moment he hit the ground near the tracks, the world shifted.

He blinked and looked at the signs around him; did he suddenly shift from Yongen’s station to the one near the school? There was only one option to try: leave the station and check.

He rushed out of the station, absolutely thankful to the fact that it was empty, and made his way to the streets; he was right, he was near Shujin.

Shoving his hand into his bag, he looked around for his trusty grapple gun, taking it out, he aimed at the building nearest to him, and launched the grapple, using it to propel himself to the roof.

He landed and quickly shot back up to look in the direction of the school; the building itself was quite cracked and shattered in places.

He had already traversed across a couple of buildings on his way to the school when he skidded to a halt, an idea popping into his head.

Instead of checking Shujin, why not check what the Diet Building looked like?

.

Using the convenient shifts that occurred at the train station, Akira soon made his way to the Diet Building.

His eyebrows shot up when he saw the building was the only one that wasn’t cracked or shattered in places, and they would have shot up even more if it was possible when he saw who was standing in front of the building.

“Akira,” Goro called to him, a smirk plastered on his face, as if he was ready to confront Akira right then and there.

“Goro.” Akira made his way to Goro, unable to shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong in the situation.

Goro’s eyes widened in mock hurt and he put his hand on his chest as he gasped dramatically, “Goro? Whatever happened to Tantei-san, hon?”

“Are you… alright?” Akira blinked in bewilderment, wondering what happened to make Goro act so dramatic out of the blue.

Goro snorted, his current expression melting away in favor of an annoyed one, “Of course I’m alright, when have I never been alright? Do you want an itemized list? _Of fucking course I’m not alright!_ I mean, you have eyes, _look_ you idiot.”

Akira blinked again and looked in the direction Goro had gestured in: it was still the Diet Building.

“It’s the Diet Building.”

“I know that.” Goro sent him a particularly fake smile before he grabbed Akira and dragged him to the building, “How about you check inside? I’m pretty sure you’ll _love_ the surprise waiting for you!” With that said, Goro opened the door and threw Akira in before he slammed the door closed behind him with a resounding bang.

The interior of the building itself was definitely more sinister than he would have pegged it to be, with shadows crawling across the walls and floor, dark, tattered curtains draped over the windows, and with a winding staircase wrapped in spikes leading up to the next floor.

There was a pair of bright yellow eyes glaring at him unnervingly from the shadow of the staircase.

Akira stepped backwards towards the door, even though he was basically trapped, he could still surprise whatever was watching him if he flung himself through one of the windows instead of actually bolting for the door.

The yellow eyes’ glare intensified, and their owner bolted at him. Akira immediately pivoted on his heel and rushed towards the nearest window, jumping at it with his arms braced around his head.

His forearms slammed against the window, but it failed to break under his weight. Pain lanced through his arms, and his momentum carried him to slam fully against the window before dropping to the floor. His reflexes launched him back to his feet in a crouch, and he shook his arms as he stared blearily at the shadow while trying to regain his bearings after the shock of the crash.

There was a derisive snort, “Is that the best you can do? Guess I can give you a little credit for going to the window instead of trying the door, but still you ultimately failed.” The voice sounded eerily familiar in its condescending, boastful tone. In fact, it sounded just like…

Akira’s eyes widened when he finally got a good look at the yellow-eyed shadow; it looked exactly like him, dressed in a black, tight, full body suit, with a red jacket with tail coats, a pair of heels, red gloves with clawed fingertips, and a red top hat.

His doppelganger sneered at him, “Is that the best you could do? I can’t believe we’re fundamentally the same person. _Hah_. But then again, what else could I expect of some coward who can’t even face his failings.”

“Excuse me?” Akira was miffed, “And who are you to have the gall to say that?”

His doppelganger allowed a self-satisfied smirk to quirk his lips, “Now, was that too hard? Actually speaking up with your own face and voice for once instead of hiding behind some stupid mask? Or masks, as it were?”

Akira allowed a scowl to mar his face and he crossed his arms, if this little shit wanted to trash talk, then Akira was willing to trash talk, “You still haven’t answered my question, faker.”

“ _Faker!_ ” His doppelganger crowed, “You’re calling _me_ a faker? Now _that’s_ comedy! Guess that’s why you go by Joker, eh?”

Akira stiffened and his doppelganger immediately noticed it, “Oh, I know _all_ about _that_. About your abilities, your skills, your secret identities- Joker, Ren, the whole shebang- I know all about your shenanigans, your burdens and problems, your deepest, darkest secrets. _I am you after all_.”

“Oh?” Akira scoffed, “So you put on a mask that looks just like me and claim that you’re me? Because that’s very believable.”

“That’s rich, coming from a weakling like you.” His doppelganger cooed, “What do you call those nice glasses you have on? Are they not a mask? An extra layer? Something to hide behind? And we’re in a world full glass and faces already, so _take it off_.”

Akira hesitated, and the doppelganger scoffed, “See? That’s why I’m here, that’s why this whole place exists, even. Because you’re a weak-willed lil’ bitch who apparently can’t take a hit from _fucking Shido_.” The doppelganger paused before a sour look took over his face, “Actually, let me rephrase that last part. In fact, ignore the part about fucking Shido because-“ The doppelganger inhaled, “Where is the goddamned brain bleach when you need it?”

“If I knew, I’d have drowned you in it already,” Akira snarked.

The doppelganger’s expression turned from sour into pleased, “See? That’s the sass I like! My problem is that it finds a way to miraculously disappear when it comes to your probation. So you thought yourself invincible but discovered you weren’t in quite the unpleasant circumstances, so what?”

“ _So what?_ ” Akira repeated incredulously, “ **So what?!** ”

“Are you telling me that you regret all that happened to bring you here?” The doppelganger stalked towards Akira, who stood firmly, refusing to back down.

“No. absolutely not.” Akira ground through his teeth.

“Excellent.” His doppelganger grinned viciously at him, “So, are you just going to lie down and do nothing when you can? Just simply sit back and watch? You can easily predict what could happen with our friends, are you planning to just keep your head down and not help because you’re afraid of retribution?”

“NO!” Akira shouted and stomped towards his doppelganger, taking his glasses off and throwing them away, uncaring of how they shattered as they hit the ground, “I don’t care what happens, I know _exactly_ what I want to do, and how I should go about it, and I am not going to just sit back and watch my friends do everything!”

“ _That’s the spirit!_ ” The doppelganger flung his arms around dramatically as his form glowed brightly and melted into Akira’s body.

Akira’s stance faltered as he registered the excruciating pain that lanced through his head and he cried out.

“ _Vow to me, I am thou, thou art I_.” Akira heard his doppelganger cackle in his head and, strangely (or maybe not strangely?), he chuckled along with it, “ _Now call upon my name!_ ”

A surge of energy flowed through Akira, and he straightened, “Come to me, Arsene!”

The chuckles in his head grew deeper in tone and echoed around him, and he turned around to stare at the great, horned being floating in the air.

There was a pleased hum within his core, and the being- Arsene- vanished, only for a familiar weight to settle down on Akira’s face, and he reached his hands to check what it was.

It was his Joker mask.

Actually, he was also dressed in his Joker get-up. Was this why the Phantom Thieves of Hearts all wore their own costumes? And here he thought they were going by the phantom thief code.

Well, no matter.

Aki- Joker- for it was Joker now- turned his focus towards the stairs, knowing exactly what he had to do next, and jogged towards it. It was time to start the climb, to see what lay hidden at the top.

.

Staircase after staircase, floor after floor, and each time Joker had to make his way through increasingly difficult security measures. Not that he was surprised about it.

And the crowning jewel of them all…

Joker twisted through laser beams and flung out his hand with the grapple gun to use the grapple to latch onto one of the beams; it was fragile, and it wouldn’t hold out for long, and the security measures were quite nightmarish at this point, but he was now within reach of the glittering treasure sat atop the pedestal waiting for him on the last floor, and there was a great window in sight, waiting for him to crash through it and drop down.

There were a lot of risks with such a spontaneous plan, but Joker had no time or resources to come up with something better while on the fly, and had the feeling that leaving the place and returning later was a bad idea.

The beam creaked and bent, and Joker snatched the glittering treasure right in time for the beam to break and fall, dropping Joker into a crouch near the pedestal.

The pressure sensitive plates under his feet activated, and sirens started blaring out. Then, the floor started to crack as the lasers switched angles and started to make their way towards Joker, itching their traces into the ground.

Joker wasted no moment in dodging the lasers as he bolted towards the window and leaping through it.

The glass gave in under his weight, shattering and giving way for Joker’s escape route. Joker twisted his body as he plummeted through the air, and brought out the knife that manifested along with his costume before plunging it into the glass at the side of the building, using it to slow down his descent as he raked down the whole side of the building, leaving shattering glass in his wake.

He hit the ground with enough force to cause his knees to buckle and almost fall to the ground before he recovered as much as he could and stumbled away from the building. He’d made it a good distance away before ducking into an alleyway to avoid the glass from the shattering building.

He breathed deeply before he brought the treasure closer to his face to inspect it; it was a mask that looked exactly like his own, except it looked well-worn with a crack going down its side.

“I see you made it out.” Joker whirled around to see the Goro from before staring at him with one hand propped on his hip, “Well, that’s good news I guess. But I figure you should really make your way away from here.” He gestured to the buildings around him, which were also shattering as well.

Joker inwardly cursed and reached for his grapple gun; using it to scale a building to look for a better escape route by way of rooftops, the world flashed before his eyes when he landed on the roof, and he stumbled before he straightened up.

“The destination has been deleted.” Akira heard his phone chime, and his eyebrows went up when he looked around him and saw that he was out of the glass Tokyo and back to the real world. He checked his phone and saw the bookmark that had been created for his name no longer existed. Huh, so he had to steal the treasure and leave?

Speaking of the treasure…

He looked back at the treasure and saw, to his shock, that it no longer looked like his mask; in fact, it actually looked like a calling card- one of Joker’s. A quick inspection of the note written on it made one thing clear: it was Joker’s first calling card.

He frowned as he checked it, wondering what it meant that the treasure took this form in particular, before he had to hide it away and check his phone again, this time he checked the trackers he used to keep tabs on the Thieves, and when none of them showed up, he figured they were in the other world already.

He hummed contemplatively as he considered his next move; he could now get changed into Ren and gather as many phantom thieves as he could to start an impromptu heist to steal all of Shido’s dirty secrets to kick him off his high horse after they gathered enough evidence against, and then he could see if he had time to check up on the Thieves of Hearts and see how their situation involving Okumura was going along with the Morgana situation.

He checked the clock as he opened a group chat with the phantom thieves he was most acquainted with; if he was quick enough about his plans for the day, he may even get back to Leblanc in time for dinner.

.

End


	10. Chapter 10

_Note: hey it’s the Hawaii date~_

**Warnings: Akechi’s Excessive Blushing (But What Else Is New?).**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

.

Goro inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled again. Then took out his phone, checking the messages Akira had sent him earlier, asking to go spend some time alone at the beach.

Blood rushed to his cheeks and he almost swayed in place; it was strange to consider that he was basically going on a date in Hawaii with none other than Kurusu Akira, AKA Amamiya Ren, AKA _Joker_.

The truth of the matter hadn’t hit him as much as it should have when Akira confirmed it for him, so now the delayed reaction was playing havoc on his mind.

He never lied to himself about how much he desired Joker, and how hard he was crushing on Akira.

(Ren was a whole different matter entirely, as he’d known since the beginning that they were Joker.)

But to come to terms that they were _all_ the same person?

That Joker, Akira, also reciprocated his feeling? It was still very much overwhelming.

“Senpai!” Goro heard Akira’s voice call out to him, and he shoved his phone into his pocket again and whipped his head around, still sporting the spectacular blush from earlier, to see Akira heading towards him with a devious smirk on his face and-

Goro almost choked on his spit; why the heck was Akira wearing a summer dress?

Well it was better than finding him wearing a bikini instea- Goro buried his face in his hands and tried to banish the image into the deepest parts of his mind reserved for similar thoughts and mental images.

But then again, he shouldn’t be surprised; it was Akira _(and Joker, and Ren)_ after all.

“Senpai, are you blushing?”

Goro raised his head from his hands and snuck a peek at Akira and, yes, he was smirking. Goro should have known.

“So what if I am? It wouldn’t be the first time, anyway. Besides, can you stop calling me senpai? It’s weird, especially since we’re… dating… and all that.”

A wicked gleam entered Akira’ eyes and Goro was torn between either bursting from too many emotions at that look, or wishing the ground would just open and swallow him up to spare him further embarrassment.

“Sure think, _Goro_ ,” Akira all but purred, “And before I forget, I got you a thing.”

Goro blinked as Akira pushed something golden towards him and he accepted it, to see that it was a gold-colored A-letter keychain.

“This is…”

Akira pressed his body against Goro’s and snaked his arms around Goro’s waist, “What? Can’t I give my boyfriend a simple gift?”

Goro tentatively wrapped an arm around Akira’s shoulders, “It’s not that. It’s just…”

Akira pressed a kiss against Goro’s cheek, “Well, you better get used to it, because I have more and more things to give you in the future.”

Goro chuckled, “They better not be stolen.”

Akira pouted.

.

End


	11. Chapter 11

_Note: Akechi’s Paranoia, a fun series featuring him losing his mind over being Exposed to the wrong people, my how is he going to deal?_

**Warnings: Akechi Is Paranoid, He Is Without Doubt In An Unenviable Position, They Call Themselves The PT And Akechi Indulges In Paranoia. docx.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

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Phantom Thieves.

_Phantom Thieves._

**_Phantom Thieves._ **

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts was the name Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana had picked out for their group, and Akechi Goro, high school detective and member of the phantom thief Joker capture task force, was chosen as their leader.

And that was why Goro found himself staring blankly at the paperwork sitting in front of him at Edogawa’s desk at the precinct.

He was an idiot; he should have stopped the others from picking such a name for their group. They could have called themselves anything from the Robin Hoods to the Heart Fairies and it would have been a hundred times better.

As it was…

Goro stared at the paperwork in front of him and waited for the blade to fall; in his experience, anyone who ever claimed the title of phantom thief had the immediate attention of the phantom thief community.

If _they_ found out that Goro was the leader of his own merry band of phantom thieves, he’d die from shame and embarrassment. Better yet, he’d kill himself before he let any one of _them_ know.

(He knew he’d eat his words later, but he wasn’t in the mood to consider the other possibilities at the moment.)

“Akechi-kun?” A hand on his shoulder shook him out of his spiraling thoughts of preparing for spontaneous seppuku if the need arose, and he snapped his eyes up to catch sight of Edogawa’s concerned face.

“Ah, Edogawa-san.” Goro pulled up a quick reassuring smile as he attempted to figure out from sight alone whether this was the real Edogawa or Joker had already sniffed him out and came to have a little chat with Goro about the topic, to no success.

“You look like you need to take a break.”

Goro laughed lightly, “Oh? Don’t worry about me, Edogawa-san, I assure you that I can still keep up with the work.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, you look ready to stab someone with that pen.”

Goro stared blankly at Edogawa for a moment before he lowered his eyes to observe the pen he held. Ah. Edogawa was right.

Loosening his grip on the pen, Goro sent a beaming smile Edogawa’s way, “Don’t worry, Edogawa-san!” Goro all but chirruped, “I was simply lost in thought! Ahahaha, silly me!”

As he returned to his work, he inhaled and exhaled discreetly.

Everything was (not) fine. Goro could (not) handle it. Goro would (not) be able to manage the situation once Joker found out.

Well, Goro had always learned to fake it till he made it, and this would be no exception.

.

(A couple of weeks later, he’d be staring at the contact info Joker had slipped him months ago as he contemplated contacting the thief for help, wondering if there was someone out there laughing at him in that moment.)

.

End


	12. Chapter 12

_Note: so who wants to see how that convo between Akira and Akechi post-Futaba’s Palace, Pre-beach trip went?_

**Warnings: More Snark Than I Expected, Less Talking Than I Expected, In Which The ShuAke Finally Got Together.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

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“Akechi-senpai, I’m glad to see you, you’ve been quite busy with work and I was starting to get worried that you’ve been overworking yourself.” Was what Goro was greeted with when he stepped into the attic above Leblanc, coupled with insistent eye-contact with Akira.

In that single moment, his previous bad mood escaped him and he was left with nothing briefly, but then the eye-contact with Akira brought with it a metaphorical punch to Goro’s guts.

There were plenty of swirling emotions behind Akira’s eyes- anticipation, hope, _dread_.

And Goro couldn’t ignore any of it.

To see Akira, Joker, Ren, lay himself bare for Goro like this was…

He walked towards Akira and sat down next to him, the way Akira leaned towards him and carefully nudged his foot with his caused all the fight to leave Goro, and he slumped against him, letting his head drop on Akira’s shoulder.

He could feel Akira relaxing as well, and he had to suppress a smile. It looked like he wasn’t mistaken when he took the risk.

Akira really was Joker.

.

The moment Goro heard the others leave the café, he immediately turned towards Akira, grasping his face with his hands and carefully inspecting it for any masks or disguises, and Akira allowed him, not protesting or trying to resist in any way.

(It did _things_ to Goro’s heart, to have Akira willing beneath his hands.)

After he finished his inspection, he leaned back, “It really is you.”

Akira sent him Joker’s unmistakable signature grin, and Goro had to turn his head to the side and cough into his hand to hide the blush staining his cheeks.

“I’m glad to have that cleared up,” Akira said, and Goro fought down his blush to get back on track; he had important things to deal with without being distracted with silly things like being too embarrassed to function like he should.

“Why did you do that?” Goro frowned, “Why expose yourself to me like that? It’s dangerous, I could arrest you.”

“Will you?”

Goro grew silent, biting down on the ‘no’ that wanted to escape from him, “Even if I did, it’s not like we’re on a heist at the moment, so it’s not exactly something I’d be proud of. So I’d say that I won’t right now.”

Akira chuckled, “Whatever you say, Tantei-san.”

“Still, you haven’t answered my question, why do this?”

Akira hummed thoughtfully, “Remember back in June when I was trying to get Kaneshiro’s name from you?”

Goro nodded before he froze, “Oh my god. It explains so much about how you knew about the pancakes, and how to arrange the dates-“ Goro snapped his mouth shut with a click.

Akira chuckled lightly, “Yes, there is that, too. But that’s not what I wanted to point out. Remember when you asked me where have I been all your life?”

Goro sputtered and Akira chuckled, “Oh no, you still remember that…”

“Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?” Akira threw him a cheeky grin before he sobered up and stared at Goro intently, “Remember what I said in response?”

“That you were… hiding. But you wanted to stop doing so, at least around… me…” Goro stared at the floor with shock, “Oh.”

“Yes.” Akira reached a hand and carded his fingers in Goro’s hair, and Goro leaned into the touch, “I’ve always wanted to approach you with my real face, but on my own terms, because I was a big coward. And then the probation happened.” Akira’s voice turned bitter, “And then things escalated from there. I took the chance and ran with it without looking back. I… don’t regret it. At all.”

Goro raised his head to stare at Akira, catching the gentle, sincere look in his eyes, and huffed, “I can’t believe this. You’ve always been out of reach… it’s difficult to comprehend what’s happening right now.”

“But, Tantei-san.” Akira leaned towards Goro, “You’re my rival detective, aren’t you, you know what that means? If anyone has any right to chase me and catch up to me, it’s you.”

Goro sent him a dry look, “You mean catch you.”

Akira grinned mischievously, “We’ll see about that during the next heist, my dear detective.”

“That’s not what I-!” Goro huffed, before he smoothed down his expression, “If you don’t want it, you know you can just run away from me again, and I won’t stop you.” Goro inhaled and leaned closer to Akira, closing the gap between them and planting a gentle kiss on Akira’s lips.

“Oh.” Akira looked dazed, “That’s…”

Goro smiled wryly, “Good to see you be so eloquent, Joker.”

“You- I- Uh-“ Akira shook his head, “What are you looking at me like that for? My reaction is completely justified! Have you ever kissed yourself? You should do it one day, and then you’ll understand!”

Goro shook his head, “Shut up and kiss me.”

“Sure thing, your highness.”

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Extra

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“Soooo, phantom thieves?” Akira grinned cheekily, and Goro punched him lightly in the arm.

“Oh, shut up.”

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End


	13. Chapter 13

_Note: so, Akira-Futaba conversation post Akira’s Palace._

**Warnings: Two Pseudo-Siblings Shenanigans, Casually Glossing Over Explanation Convo.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

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“You wanted to talk, so talk.” Futaba gestured with her hand as Akira made himself comfortable on her bed.

“It’s about an app that found itself on my phone without me doing anything.”

Futaba pursed her lips together, “That app wouldn’t happen to have found its way to your phone after that time you trailed us at Okumura Foods HQ, and wouldn’t happen to look like an eye. _Would_ it?”

“Since you’re putting it that way…” Akira trailed off, and Futaba made grabby hands.

“Gimme.”

Akira shrugged one shoulder before gracelessly rolling off the bed to drop to the floor before stretching his arm towards Futaba, his phone held in his hand, already unlocked, and Futaba snatched it up immediately to scroll through it.

“Yep, it’s the Nav. Did you talk to Goro about this yet?”

“Uh. No.” Akira rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Futaba raised an eyebrow at his response, “Seriously? You didn’t? Wow. Are you planning to hide it from him?”

“In a way, yes.”

“Oho?”

“Look, I don’t want to add more to his plate with this-“ Akira vaguely gestured to his phone, “-what with everything happening lately, so I’m keeping it as a kind-of-secret but not exactly secret.”

“And that is supposed to be…?”

Akira sighed, “I won’t _volunteer_ the information, but if he catches me and asks, I’m not going to lie to him about it.”

“Lie?” Futaba snorted, throwing him back his phone- which he caught between his hands- and leaning back in her chair, “So careful omissions of the truth or manipulation of how it’s presented count in that or not?”

“It counts.” Akira fiddled with his phone, “Whatever he asks, I’ll answer.”

“Why not tell him outright then?”

Akira grinned at her mischievously, “I’m not supposed to make things easy for my rival, am I?”

“Futaba snickered, “I guess that’s one way to look at it. But…” She sobered up quickly, “Back to the ‘trailing after us’ point of the conversation. You wouldn’t happen to plan to continue, would you?”

“I think the answer to that is obvious,” Akira said dryly, “There is no way you’ll be getting me to stop. Especially now that I can actually keep a closer eye on you considering everything that’s been happening recently.”

“It’s too dangerous.” Futaba vehemently shook her head, “You can’t go in on your own like that. The Shadows there will kill you.”

Akira hummed thoughtfully, “Is there any way to defend against them or combat them?”

Futaba chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully, as if wondering whether she should answer him or not, “We have weapons. Replicas. As long as it resembles something that functions like a weapon convincingly enough, it can cause damage, but that’s not all. It’s not so simple. Shadows have the ability to cast spells, spells that could be dangerous to you if you didn’t have a Persona. I think.”

“You think?”

Futaba huffed, “It’s all theory on my side of things because I have no way of figuring out whether awakening a Persona helps or if it’s something else altogether.”

“And this Persona thing is…?”

Futaba huffed again, “Alright, listen close to me, because this is going to get very long and detailed.”

And so, Futaba started to explain what she knew (and what she theorized) about the Metaverse while Akira listened carefully.

It was a good two hours later when the two quieted down, Futaba tearing into a bag of chips while Akira sat on the floor while he contemplated what Futaba said.

“I have a Persona.”

Futaba hacked and coughed as she choked on the chips she was in the process of swallowing, and Akira leaped to his feet to pat her on the back.

“Do you need water?”

“You have a _what_?!”

“A Persona,” Akira replied patiently, and Futaba groaned.

“Great! That means there is nothing stopping you from actually following us…”

Akira sent her an amused grin, and she scowled back at him before shoving her hand forward to point at him accusingly, digging her pointer finger into his chest.

“My Persona specializes in navigation and buffs so I’m going to keep an eye on you and act as your support whenever I can without making it obvious for the others.”

“You’re not going to tell them?”

Futaba sighed and slumped back in her seat, “Well, it’s not like it’s going to stop you anyway.”

“You know me too well,” Akira cooed as he ruffled her hair, and she batted his hand away with a scowl.

“No patting until you have appeased me.”

“Of course, your highness.”

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End


	14. Chapter 14

_Note: so this convo was supposed to be in the previous update, but I didn’t have the time to add it, so it got delayed to the next update._

**Warnings: I Actually Have Nothing To Say In Here.**

**Disclaimer:** Don’t own P5.

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“When were you planning to tell me that you had the app and awakened a Persona?” Goro started, arms crossed, brow furrowed and lips pressed together into a thin line, “Or were you even planning to tell me about it at all if I hadn’t caught you?”

“Well.” Akira fiddled with a curl of his hair, “Kinda like that? I wasn’t going to tell you outright about that, but I wasn’t planning on keeping it a secret.” Goro quirked an unimpressed eyebrow and Akira shrugged, “What? Am I supposed to tell you everything I know? Where would the fun be in you chasing after me then?”

Goro sighed and shook his head, “That is a completely different thing. Any other things you neglected to mention to me because you were waiting for me to bring up first? Like, say, _how you acquired a Persona_?”

“Well about that…” Akira started, eyeing Goro cautiously, “I may or may not have had a Palace?”

Goro allowed his arms to fall to his sides and sent Akira a Look; Akira smiled awkwardly.

“See that Look? The other you in my Palace gave me that same Look when he saw me.”

“The other me?” Goro’s eyes widened, “You had a cognitive version of me in your Palace?” Goro looked miffed, “That’s. Um. Ah.” Goro mentally floundered as he tried to figure out how he was supposed to respond to that before he decided to put it aside to think on it later and move onto a different topic, “Where was your Palace anyway? Or what was it centered around?”

Akira shrugged, “It covered the entirety of Tokyo, as far as I figured it worked, anyway.”

“Tokyo?” Goro frowned thoughtfully, hand drifting to his chin in a thinking pose, “It makes sense given your probation.”

Akira grimaced, “Yeah, I figured. It was centered around the Diet Building.” Goro’s head snapped towards Akira.

“The Diet Building? But why?”

“Well gee, Tantei-san,” Akira said dryly, “I don’t know, who else could be connected to the Diet Building?”

“Ah, Shido.” Goro covered his reddening face with his hands, “Never mind that hiccup. But still, why would your place of distortion be linked to Shido?”

Akira’s face darkened, and Goro dropped that line of questioning.

“How did you awaken to your Persona, then?”

Akira’s expression shifted into wry amusement, “I mentioned that it involved a screaming match, didn’t I? My Shadow Self was less than pleased with me and made it known, we might have bickered, and then I might have awakened Arsene right after it was done.”

Goro snorted.

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End


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